Category: Cloud Server

Despite the fact that a Colocation and Private Cloud sound similar, there is a world of difference between these two. A colocation data center is a physical location which is shared by a number of companies to place their servers and IT infrastructure. All these servers are located in close proximity so that they can lead to better latency and connectivity. On the flip side, a private cloud is a virtual machine that runs on remote servers. Sometimes a cloud runs on a colocation data center and at other times, it can be hosted on a dedicated data center as well. Here we shed light on the basic differences between Colocation and a Private Cloud.

The following are the striking dissimilarities between Private Cloud and Colocation:

The Basic Premise

A Private Cloud is an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) where in you rent out a portion of the shared space on virtual machines which run inside a colocation center. The Cloud is a software that is mounted on shared computers through virtual machines that are a part of the colocation center. On the other hand, a colocation is a physical location and the address of all the servers.

The Deployment of Resources

It is indeed a challenge for businesses to integrate complex hardware and software components coming from multiple vendors. A befitting solution here comes in the form of a Private Cloud where you do not have to get bogged down by the purchase, installation, configuration and deployment of your hardware.

Businesses which are already happy with their infrastructure can check out the affordable and time-saving features offered by Colocation data centers. They can avail the physical space to house their servers on rent and pay for the power that is drained out at the location, to the service provider.

Security Concerns

Your choice between colocation and private cloud should be a function of security requirements. In an attempt to derive maximum data security and compliance to regulatory specifications, you can pick an on-premises private cloud.

It is the responsibility of colocation providers to offer data center security. They will not only safeguard your data, but also prevent security breaches to jeopardize your business objective.

Technology Requirements

A private cloud makes the most of the state-of-the-art technology to ensure that you enjoy a host of benefits including cost savings, agility and speed. The name private here refers to the fact that you will be the sole tenant who will be benefiting from the cloud technology.

Colocation data centers make use of information technologies that will help you build, deploy and maintain an up-to-date and flexible IT infrastructure. Sparing you of the huge investment to build a mission critical data center, you can bank upon the latest technology that not only saves you monies but also helps you focus on your business objectives.

The Service Providers

A Private Cloud Service Provider is ordained to manage and maintain cloud-based software, IT infrastructure and storage capabilities. The ownership of the equipment lies in the hands of the service provider who is held responsible for the maintenance of the cloud system along with keeping a watchful eye on the maintenance, security and upgrades. It is through the service provider that the Private Cloud platform becomes an IaaS.

Colocation providers, on the other hand, rent out the physical space that is required to house your servers and hardware along with other IT infrastructure. Businesses which opt for colocation services simply outsource storage and the regular maintenance of their servers and hardware while being tagged as the owners of the equipment.

Costing Constraints

When you choose to host your website on a Private Cloud, you will be free from managing the infrastructure responsibilities. The Cloud Service Provider steps in to conduct regular maintenance tasks which comes as a blessing to you. Through a Private Cloud, you will be able to devote your time towards business opportunities that will ultimately improve your bottom line. Thus companies opting for cloud services will be able to bring down their capital expenditure along with the operational costs showing up in the form of maintenance and support activities.

Enterprises choosing the colocation will have to invest a great deal in the purchase of their own equipment including switches, servers, software and hardware. It will be your sole responsibility to look into enhancements and upgrades of both software and hardware that should happen at regular intervals. You will have to manage an in-house team of IT service professionals who will be entrusted the responsibility to monitor, manage and maintain your equipment so that it is up and running at all times.

Conclusion

Each option, whether it is a Private Cloud or a Colocation comes with its innate positives and reservations. Hence it is up to you to delve deep into what your requirements are. Once you enlist all your needs, you can use these data points to come up with a long-term option that will benefit your business in more ways than you can imagine.

Looking for a perfect option to host your company website? Here are the two most important choices that are available to you in the form of a dedicated server and a cloud computing execution model. Helping you to understand the differences between these two platforms, the following section explains the important features of these variants in detail.

What is a Dedicated Server?

A dedicated server is a perfect web hosting option for large and medium-sized organizations. If you are a part of the IT operations of one such companies, then you will be driven by a basic need to exclusively utilize your web hosting capabilities without wanting to share your server with other companies or individuals. To avail this benefit, you need to sign up with a dedicated server hosting provider who will maintain the performance and security of your company’s site.

In addition to securing your sensitive information, a dedicated server allows you to entirely consume resources like RAM, disk space and quality bandwidth. The round-the-clock expert maintenance of your server coming from the technicians of the service provider is another guaranteed benefit of dedicated server hosting enterprises.

Along with these operational benefits, you can also save money in the long run by cutting down your maintenance overheads. Office space can be saved when an agreement with the service provider can also bring down your hardware costs and the cost of planning for a software update. You can also have the freedom of choosing the type operating system you want (whether it is Windows or Linux).

What is a Cloud Server?

A cloud server is remotely managed by a cloud hosting provider who maintains the performance of your website along with the benefits of data security and resource control. Also called as server less computing, this arrangement allows your website to be hosted on a “virtual” space sparing you the worries concerning server management and capacity planning. These are the important parameters that are taken care of by the cloud hosting provider.

Depending on your changing business needs, cloud solutions come with a flexibility to scale up your resources along with a provision to pay only for those services that you and your company utilize over the cloud.

Minimizing the risks associated with the purchase of capital assets and in-house maintenance of huge servers, cloud computing comes as an affordable and scalable option for many companies. Along with a promise to deliver superior website performance, you can also avail the professional services of a cloud hosting provider.

After defining these two platforms in detail, let us now move on to the differences between them that will be explained in the form of answers to frequently asked questions.

How soon can I access online resources?

When it concerns a dedicated server, the time taken to access online resources can run into several weeks. But with cloud computing, you have the advantage of accessing online resources within minutes.

Is it possible to update RAM, CPU and disk space?

Both the platforms allow you to upgrade your hardware requirements. However, the difference lies in the convenience and turnaround time. It is a matter of a few clicks before you can upgrade your RAM or CPU, through an API automated cloud server.

But it is not the case with a dedicated server. Upgrading your dedicated server hardware calls for manual processing along with a need to follow a procedure specified by a maintenance window.

What about Cost effectiveness and High Availability?

A high availability (HA) environment built on the cloud leads to a 60% saving when compared to the cost of hosting your website on a dedicated server. With multiple cloud servers available, the time taken to configure a HA environment and a load balancer happens within a couple of minutes.

As a sharp contrast, this is not the case with a dedicated server. Notwithstanding the fact that you can request for a HA environment through multiple dedicated servers, the completion of this process might be time consuming. You need to wait anywhere between a couple of hours to even days before the new build on a dedicated server is fully operational.

Are there automated tools that I can access?

Performing the functions of auto management, auto-provisioning and auto-scaling is convenient through cloud computing. These are the tools that can be accessed via the open development API community. However, such tools though available with the dedicated environment require the efforts of vendors to customize these tools before you can implement them.

How easily can I perform segmentation of resources at a low cost?

When it comes to cloud computing, you have the luxury of segmenting your resources based on their functions. Allowing you to easily scale up your resources, a cloud computing execution model allows efficient management of resources and their compartmentalization at an affordable cost. But with a dedicated server, it is an expensive affair to initiate resource compartmentalization.

Which platform is best for stringent security and compliance needs?

If you are keen on superior data security, then a dedicated server can be your top bet. A complete compliance to security regulations is a differentiating characteristic in favor of dedicated hardware; a conspicuous advantage absent in cloud computing.

Is mobile monitoring of both the servers possible?

It is a matter of convenience to be able to manage your cloud servers via your iOS or Android mobiles. But this feature is absent in a dedicated server which calls for a manual management of the server and its hardware.

Can I utilize the dual benefits of a cloud and a dedicated server?

As a response to the query whether it is possible to run both the servers in one environment, the emergence of a hybrid technology demands a special mention. Leading to the concept of a hybrid cloud, it is though this innovative technique that you can experience the best of both the worlds.

A public cloud which is best suited for non-critical operations can go in tandem with a private cloud which can be applied for business-specific functions. Both these in turn will lead to the emergence of a platform which is not only flexible and agile but also cost-effective.